News - July 2009

Wednesday 1st July – 25 Mile TT Championships Andover Advertiser Report

Article courtesy of Mike Webber

 

Perfect conditions greeted the riders in the recent Andover Wheelers 25 mile Time Trial Championship with a number of PB times being set! The course takes the riders in a eastbound direction towards Basingstoke before turning and retracing to finish adjacent to the 'Twinings' building, with each rider heading off at minute intervals. Lizzy Yates was the fastest Lady on the night with her best ever time of 68mins 55secs. Rob Ward was having his first attempt at the distance and, although unshipping his chain at the turn, still produced an excellent time of 61mins 22secs. This was good enough for 3rd place in the Championship and a time that he is sure to improve on during the rest of the season. Nick Adnitt has had a fairly low key start to the season but his time of 60mins 48secs shows that his form is coming together at the right time and was good enough for 2nd place overall. But it was Club Champion Simon Healey who is once again proving to be the dominant rider this season. Healey sliced well over a minute off his PB to win the event in a time of 54mins 31secs, an average speed of over 27.5mph!

 

The Wheelers events are fast approaching the mid point of the season and a quick scan of the Points League tables would appear to suggest that in each league one rider is dominating. In 'B' League Hefin Richard is the only rider to have participated in every club time trial this season and has a 37 point advantage over second placed Lizzy Yates. Elsewhere new rider Alan Spurden is showing great promise having already climbed to fourth place after joining the club after a 'Come & Try It' ride just over a month ago. In the 'A' League junior rider Rob Ward has a 28 point advantage over Nick Adnitt, with Roger Hartnell a further ten points back and in the 'Elite and 2nd Claims' table Simon Healey has established a 40 point advantage over Jake Prior (VC St Raphael). However Prior is the undisputed ‘class act’ of the league with 6 wins from just 7 appearances and should keep Healey on his toes for the remainder of the season.

Friday 10th July – Andover Advertiser Report

Article courtesy of Mike Webber

 

Three Andover cyclists, Simon Healey and Lizzy Yates of the Andover Wheelers and Stuart Thompson of Behind-the-Bikeshed, recently participated in the Team Axiom Weekender time trials based in Liss. Seventy-one riders contested the ten mile event in near ideal weather conditions on Saturday afternoon. Healey was pleased to record a time of 21mins 26secs, just three seconds off his seasons’ best and good enough for 13th place overall. Thompson recorded 23mins 11secs for 39th place and Yates was 3rd Lady with 26mins 43secs. Much cooler conditions welcomed the riders early the following morning for the '25' mile event, a situation made worse by a nagging crosswind. However, Thompson battled valiantly to finish with 1hr 1min 25secs, a mere two seconds shy of best time since his return to competitive cycling. Yates was the fastest lady with 1hr 11mins 58secs and Healey managed 15th overall with 56mins 23secs. The following weekend saw Thompson and Yates joined by Scottish based Andover Wheeler David Smith, back in the area for a few weeks, to ride the Wessex RC 50 mile time trial between Poole and Bere Regis. The rolling course is quite tough but excellent conditions made for some good times. Thompson got within 2 minutes of his PB and finished in a fantastic 10th place with a time of 2hrs 7mins 48secs. Smiths visit to the area was made all the more worthwhile with a time of 2hrs 10mins 39secs and Lizzy Yates produced her second PB time in as many weeks to finish in an excellent 2hrs 26mins 21secs.

 

The Andover Wheelers are once again promoting another 'Come & Try It' event on Thursday 30th July. The Amport Cricket Club will be the HQ and start point, and the 8 mile course will be based on the quiet roads around Monxton & Grateley. Anyone wishing to take part just needs to turn up with a roadworthy bike and the club recommends that a crash hat be worn. Signing on will start from 6.00pm with the first rider off at 7.00pm. Certain conditions will apply to U18 riders

Tuesday 14th July – Can all Club Championship Trophies be returned to Roger Hartnell for re-engraving

As strange as it is to believe, but we’re less than 2 months from the end of the season.  So can all Club Championship Trophies be returned to Roger Hartnell for re-engraving.

Tuesday 14th July – Riders are reminded to observe the no drafting rules whilst competing in all TT’s

All riders are reminded to follow the no drafting rules whilst competing in all TT’s.  Below is the precise rule (21) from the CTT handbook.

 

21. Paced & Company Riding

 

Competitors must ride entirely alone and unassisted and not ride in company or take shelter (commonly known as drafting) from other riders or vehicles. A competitor overtaking another must pass without receiving or giving shelter. The onus of avoiding company riding shall be upon the rider overtaken.

Monday 27th July – End of Season Youth Hostel Tour – 10th & 11th October

To mark the end of the racing season the club is going to have a weekend away. The idea is to cycle down to the New Forest on Saturday 10th October for an overnight stay at Burley Youth Hostel. It will be a moderately paced ride of not more than 40 miles each way (depending on numbers there may be an option for a longer, faster ride on one of the days).

 

The cost for a bed is £15.95 for an adult, £11.95 for U18s and an additional £4.65 for a cooked breakfast.  Evening meals are also available for £9.25, although depending on numbers we may head out to a local pub to eat. Obviously if there are a lot of us it will probably be best to eat at the hostel.  There are full cooking facilities at the hostel if you wish to self-cater.

 

We need to finalise numbers by the 9th August so if you want to come along please contact Simon Healey on Andover 356548 (evenings) or any other committee member ASAP.

Monday 27th July – South Division Circuit Race Championships Andover Advertiser Report

Article courtesy of Mike Webber

 

The Andover Wheelers youngsters had more excellent results recently in the South Division Road Circuit Championships at Castle Combe. Showery conditions made things difficult for the U10's with a dead turn at each end of their pitlane circuit and Alex Hall suffered most when he hit the deck going into the first turn! But he bravely remounted after being allowed a lap out and fought his way back to the front of the field to take a well earned victory. Not to be outdone by her younger brother, Emily Hall was tackling the full race circuit in the U12 Girls race and led from start to finish to win her respective Championship, a fine double success! In the U12 Boys race, Jed Webber and Cameron Thompson were part of a large field that set off at a cracking pace. Windy conditions soon slowed everything down but Jed and Cameron were racing well for a top position. Into the last lap and the race began to split apart but Cameron hung in well and produced a superb sprint to take 3rd place. Jed battled away to the end and sprinted in for 6th place. The U16's and U14's races had a line up of quality riders from across the region and Tom Bolton and Mitchell Webber knew that they had a battle on their hands. Mitchell looked to be struggling from the start but managed to hang in with the main group right until the final sprint for the line where he matched his brothers effort to finish in a creditable 6th place. A tactical U16's race played right into the hands of Tom Bolton. With no one wanting to go on the attack in the windy conditions, Tom was able to conserve some of his energy for the final sprint. Coming up the long drag to the line, Tom held his nerve to time his effort perfectly and grab a fantastic 3rd place.

 

Photos from Graham Robins can be viewed here.

Back to Main News